Mora 2nd at Clarksburg

The main goal for me at Clarksburg was to get out conservatively and finish strong. I didn't have a time goal. As long as the race was not a complete disaster I was going to be happy with it. It's been a tough season. Since early in the summer every week or two there has been some small setback. Nothing major, but enough to keep me from getting much consistent training.

I went out as planned on the conservative side. Sergio Reyes got out much faster than I was willing to go and he was out of sight within a few miles. There were two guys going at a good pace that I ran with for a while. We worked together and traded off leading our pack a few times, hitting 5:10-5:15 miles. That pace felt pretty good early and I figured I'd be able to pick it up the last few miles. Even though I felt relaxed at the end of the 8th mile I had some stomach problems and had to stop and throw up. I starting running again and about 100 yards later I threw up again. I jogged for about 1 minute after that to make sure I was good. I lost at least 30 seconds on the guys I was running with, maybe more. Then I got back on it and focused on catching them. It took about one mile to catch the first guy, and another two miles to catch the next guy. I ended up in second place with a time of 1:08:30. Sergio won it with a 1:05:32.

All things considered I'm satisfied with the race. It's not a blazing fast time, but it's progress.